Kinomoto Sakura of 2814
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Summary: When Sakura Sealed the 53rd Card, she got more than she thought. Now, she becomes entangled in the decades-long struggle of the secretive organization A.E.G.I.S. What does her blue stone have to do with Invaders? And what does Tomoyo have in mind? X-over.
1. In Fearful Day, When Without Light…

A/N: And now, it's time for Sakura's turn at a Level in Badass…

In continuity with _**2814**_, and happens after the events of the Linker Cores War, but before Nanoha hats up with the Justice League. I figure at least a month before and after either way. At _least_. Will try not to spoil it, but some spoiling will be inevitable. Still, this will mainly by CCS-centric. So, yes, _the goddamned Tomoyo_ shows up…

I've also had the crazy idea of making Kageyama Reiji Tomoyo's father. It would explain _**so**_ much of why she's badass and crazy. Plus, you know, Tomoyo with Gate Powers…

...

Kinomoto Sakura of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 1: _In Fearful Day, When Without Light…_

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

"Are you sure about this, Sakura-san?" Green Lantern said, frowning in concern, her web-cam window slightly green.

Sakura nodded at the small image on Tomoyo's laptop. It was always so convenient how Tomoyo was always carrying useful things. "Hai, Green Lanter-chan. The 53rd Card… it is something _I_ must deal with. And… and I don't want anyone else getting erased because of it on my account."

"Are you sure?" Illya said from another web-cam window. "Miyu-chan and I have our own experience with dealing with violent spirit-like beings who turn into cards when we defeat them with our star-tipped magic wands. We can help!"

Sakura smiled in appreciation, but shook her head. "No. Not now. One way or the other, it ends tonight, and it ends between the Card and myself. I… I think I know how to deal with it. I know what it wants…"

"Then… good luck, Sakura-chan," Sailor Mercury said from her own window, before getting pushed forward by the rest of the Senshi also trying to wish Sakura luck. "Ack, girls, personal space!"

"Yeah, good luck girl!" Haruna said, giving her a thumbs up. In the background, Sakura could see Calculator-san muttering to herself, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, before the rest of Ala Alba also crowded into the shot to wish her well.

"If anything happens, Sakura-san," Hayate said, her knights behind her. "Then we'll take up where you left off." Her five knights nodded behind her.

Sakura smiled appreciatively, touched by all this. She wasn't able to help much with the Association, since she wasn't really the kind to fight, but she'd made good friends there nonetheless. "Thank you, everyone."

She raised up a hand and hesitantly signed off from the chat. Yue closed up the laptop and handed it back to Tomoyo, who wordlessly put it back in her bag. Sakura looked at her friends around her. Yue, darling Tomoyo, Kero-kun, Meilin… and Syaoran. Oh, Syaoran…

The boy looked at her, eyes much softer then when they'd first met, and Sakura felt the urge to tell him, tell him here and now her answer to what he'd told her so long ago, before all this…

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as the 53rd Card's magic filled the air and Cards began to fly from her bag…

...

The wind roars as Sakura Seals the last card, her heart a maelstrom of confused emotions as she wonders and fears what precious feeling will be taken from her. Her heart nearly breaks when the darkness wraps around Syaoran, his smile resigned to making this sacrifice. She doesn't notice the blank, nameless card in her pocket, her _own_ 53rd card suddenly being called up to what was once The Nothing as the void of it was filled.

And in all this, her heart never stopped its ultimate spell.

_It will be all right…_

_Everything is going to be all right…_

The moment ended. The power stopped. The inside of the entropy-perforated tower flared as the last Card finally came home to join its siblings. Cool, blinding blue light filled everything, and Sakura and Syaoran had to shut their eyes.

_Everything will be all right…_

_All will be well…_

The light faded. Sakura opened her eyes slowly, looking up as her last card drifted down to her. The image of the Card she'd bound was peaceful, its eyes closed in repose. It looked tranquil, content. Happy. In its hands, it held a winged heart, with a small, round symbol in glowing blue at its center...

And beside the Card, floated a small deep blue stone, flat and round, about the size of the end of Sakura's thumb. She reached up and caught both, frowning slightly at the stone. It pulsed, and Sakura could _feel_ it in her heart.

_All will be well…_

For a moment, she wasn't sure if the thought was hers or not. Hesitantly, she turned to Syaoran…

Confessions were made. Two children held each other, finally able to truly tell each other how they felt, finally united like a pair of wings. Cue the sun. 'Erased' people were returned to existence having no memory of what happened. At least, apparently. The town was repaired. All was well…

Daidouji Tomoyo stood up from where she'd found herself, primly dusted herself off, looked around, drew the appropriate conclusions, and took out her cell phone to make some calls…

...

"Daidouji-san," Eriol said into his phone calmly. "First, I would like to say that I am sorry that I screwed up by forgetting about the 53rd Card. That said, the situation has been resolved, with no lasting damage to anyone. Now, could you _please_ ask these people to go away without trying to kill me? I'm dangerously close to missing Doctor Who."

He listened a moment, then handed the phone to the man pointing a gun to his head and a sword to his neck. "She wants to talk to you."

Deathstroke took the phone. "Hello? You sure? All right then." He put down the phone and began to pack away his weapons, nodding to all the other mercenaries in the room. They began to stand down as well. "She's letting you live, but she has a message."

"Which is?" Eriol asked calmly.

Deathstroke thwacked him upside the head. "Dumbass," he deadpanned.

...

"It suits you," Tomoyo said as she looked over Sakura's shoulder into the mirror they were using while her fingers tucked the silver necklace around Sakura's neck. The blue stone hung on the chain, artfully wrapped by golden wire forming the shape of a star. Sakura had wanted it to somehow by unmodified, and Tomoyo had gallantly done what she could to make it so. "A pity it doesn't match your eyes. But it is still as beautiful as you are."

Sakura blushed. "Hoeeeee, Tomoyo chan…"

"I can't help it!" Tomoyo giggled. "Sakura-chan is always so cute!"

Sakura smiled, embarrassed. "It _is_ beautiful," she agreed. "I wonder why The Hope made it…"

"Perhaps she was trying to apologize for all the trouble she caused," Tomoyo suggested.

"Well, hopefully everything will be peaceful from now on," Sakura said, then looked over at the people partying. "Well, relatively, anyway."

Sakura shook her head and they went back to the others. The party in Evangeline's resort was in full swing. It was the Magical Girl Association's "Sakura-chan Did It! She Kicked Ass And Unerassed Everyone!" victory party. If Sakura hadn't known better, she'd have said Tomoyo had been involved. Ala Alba was partying hard, and so were some of the Sailor Senshi, though Sailor Saturn was following around Sailor Pluto to make sure she didn't get at Evangeline's alcohol stashes. Tuxedo Kamen, Syaoran, Kotarou and Chrono were chatting, a slightly conspirational air about them.

Tomoyo's elbowed jabbed gently at her, and she turned blushing to face the other girl's knowing smile. "Go on," she said encouragingly, putting her arms around Sakura's shoulder and squeezing tight for a moment. "Take advantage of your time together. He'll still have to go to Hong Kong, and I don't think Green Lantern will be able to fly you to see him every day."

Sakura blushed harder, but firmed herself, taking a deep breath. A determined look came to her eyes as she turned to Syaoran and began striding towards him. Tomoyo's arms fell, a momentary look of resigned loss coming to the girl as her hand 'accidentally' brushed Sakura's new pendant…

"_Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura said, her smile beneficent, beautiful as all heaven and absolutely divine. Tomoyo would make seas of blood for that smile. "Tomoyo-chan… of _course_ I love you too…"_

"_Sakura-chan– !" Tomoyo said, before Sakura lay a shushing finger on her lips and leaned forward. The heat of her mouth set Tomoyo's mind on fire, and her arms rose on their own accord to wrap around the Card Mistress. A moan rose from Tomoyo's throat as she felt a tongue enter her lips, and she began to respond in kind…_

Tomoyo blinked, watching Sakura-chan walking away as Tuxedo Kamen tapped Syaoran on the shoulder, grinning as he redirected the boy's attention to the incoming girl. Kotarou rolled his eyes as Chrono smiled knowingly.

Tomoyo kept staring as the party happened all around her, slowly raising a hand to her lips. They still felt warm. She could almost still _feel_ the tongue…

"Well," she said quietly. "It looks like it's not over yet…"

Around Sakura's neck, the stone glowed, ever so slightly.

And across the floor, Green Lantern, chatting with Yagami Hayate, didn't notice as her ring's charge began to rise…

...

In a darkened alley in Tokyo, evil and the fear of evil faced each other. There was a glow as a cellphone was opened.

"Gate…" a soft voice said quietly, "Open…!"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Gee, can anyone guess where this is going?

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	2. With My Heart Full, My Soul Ignites!

A/N: sorry for the long wait. The other 2814s were giving me a lot of inspiration.

The events of this chapter onwards happens after Gatekeepers 21.

...

Kinomoto Sakura of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 2: _With My Heart Full, My Soul Ignites!_

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

"Wow!" Sakura cried, pressing her hands against the window as she peered down. "We're so high up!"

Tomoyo giggled. "Sakura-chan, you can fly! What are you getting excited about?"

"But we're so high up!" Sakura said, turning to Tomoyo, eyes sparkling.

_My camera, my camera, my kingdom for my camera…!_ Tomoyo prayed inwardly. _Oh, kami, she's so beautiful… DAMN IT LEE, IF YOU DON'T TAKE CARE OF HER…!_

And speaking of whom…

"You sure this building is up to code?" Syaoran asked. "Because it looks like it's leaning a little…"

Tomoyo looked at him, and even though she never stopped smiling, Syaoran recognized the Tomoyo-in-Sakura's-presence equivalent of a flat, annoyed look. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move to take jabs at the most dangerous girl in existence he knew, Green Lantern and Yagami Hayate included, but darn it, he was _not_ going to let her break him!

Keroberos looked out as well. "Nah, it's an optical illusion caused by the height."

Syaoran gave him a disbelieving look.

"What? I'm not allowed to know things?"

"Well, I just have to do a few things, and then we can make the meeting with the Senshi," Tomoyo said, turning back to her desk. She'd begun using the office she had in the Daidouji Toy Company's corporate headquarters more often recently, beyond having it as somewhere to rest at when she came to Tokyo and to hold meetings on her home territory.

The three made themselves comfortable, Sakura wandering around looking at the rather plain yet elegant but mostly expensive little knickknacks Tomoyo had decorated her office with while Lee just stood near the windows, looking out at the view and Keroberos curled up for a nap. She'd restrained herself from filling it to the brim with Sakura-bilia, since that wouldn't be very professional. She knew how to keep her private and business personas separate, thank-you-very-much!

Though anyone who actually managed to open her safe or found the secret drawer built into her desk would find a buttload of Sakura-almost-but-not-quite loliporn.

Trying not to think about it– Sakura in the same room was distracting enough. She'd never get any work done if she thought about those pictures from that time they'd gone to the beach and Sakura had accidentally torn her swimsuit on a rock– Tomoyo went through her work as quickly and thoroughly as she could. Report, report, report, ninja payroll, report…

"So Mamoru-san isn't going to be there?" Syaoran was saying.

Only Tomoyo's perfectly Sakura-tuned senses heard the swishing of hair as Sakura shook her head. "Apparently he and his friend are still busy setting up the paperwork for his identification. Chisame-san and Ami-san did what they could for the computer data, but actual paperwork would be needed." She could also _hear_ Sakura's worried frown. "Is it really all right for them to do that?"

"It's the only way he'll be able to have a normal life," Tomoyo said from her desk, checking some things on her computer. "These days, you can only go so far without some kind of paper trail."

"I suppose you'd know," Syaoran said. Tomoyo gave him a _look_, but he didn't seem to mean anything by it.

Tomoyo finished soon after, and they headed out to have lunch with super heroes…

...

Sakura had a unique position in the fledgling Magical Girl Association, which had formally been established at the end of the Book of the Night Sky incident. She was the only one who knew the real names of EVERYONE. There had been perfectly good reasons for it. For one thing, _someone_ had to, if only to act as a litmus test in case of mind control– the Sailor Senshi's idea– being replaced by a magical duplicate– surprisingly, Ala Alba's idea– being able to spot alternate universe duplicates– Green Lantern's idea– and knowing if anyone had come from a Bad End future and was trying to change the past– Tohsaka Sakura's idea– as well, as someone who could correlate civilian and professional identities in case life turned out to be a bitch– Superman's idea.

There were also perfectly good reasons why Sakura had been chosen for this. For one thing, _absolutely no one_ wanted Haruna to have this information, and had it been anyone in Ala Alba, she'd have been able to bribe, threaten, blackmail or scare it right out of them. No one doubted she could. Plus everyone, herself included, knew she was several levels worth of evil, and not to be trusted with stuff like this. Calculator engaged in extensive self-censorship to make sure Haruna didn't have any way to recreate the info. Besides, it some ways Ala Alba were completely lousy at keeping secrets. There were bets going on how long before the rest of 3-A became Ministra.

None of the Senshi, most importantly Mamoru, wanted the job. Given trends, there was a very good chance one of them would be compromised, and the information being used against them. Besides, the Outers, by their own admission, were too paranoid not to act on the information, with the exemption of Hotaru, who'd likely tell her parents if they bribed her with enough candy, and the Inners were likely to do highly irresponsible things with it. What might happen to it in Mamoru's hands did not bear thinking. He knew his luck with mental influences.

The relatively new group of the Fuyuki Fate Knights ran into too many people who might be able to drag it out of them with magic or torture for it to be safe, and given how Rin and Luvia bickered, no one wanted it near them. in their own way, they were as bad as Haruna. Green Lantern had declined, as she was one of the biggest targets in the group, being more visible and active than anyone of them and the most obvious candidate for the job. The same went for Ferret Lantern (who was still on his eternal quest for a better name) and Fate.

The Wolkenritter were not considered, even though they _technically_ already had the information already, between their scans and the information uploaded into the Book. They were still in sort-of probation. Hayate was welcomed readily enough, and the others knights were on relatively good terms with most people, most especially Green Lantern and Negi, but between the Outer Senshi, some of the less forgiving White Wings, and a few of the Fate Knights (Illya was still pissed, despite ostensibly forgiving them), enough people were, at best, uneasy of them that they were on a short leash, so to speak.

This made Sakura, and by extension Tomoyo and Syaoran, the only truly viable candidate, and a willing volunteer. She'd been feeling like she hadn't been pulling her weight. Everyone else had been defending human life, fighting for their beliefs and trying to make themselves better Magical Girls (and Boys) while making the world a better place. _She'd_ been running around being manipulated by Eriol. No one took it against her, but Sakura had been feeling inadequate. Being given some important responsibility had helped her feel more involved in the group, and better about herself.

In theory, this meant that in the whole group, she was in the most danger. There were always people who'd pry into secrets, and it was only a matter of time before they made enemies who'd want to know who they were.

In practice, it meant Sakura made a lot of new friends. And those who really thought about it weren't all that worried. She was, theoretically, one of if not _the_ most powerful practitioner of her form of magic, with two Magical Guardians who were extremely powerful in their own right and fiercely dedicated. And she was the best friend of Tomoyo. Even _Makie_ _and Shiro_ realized that being under the protection of the girl who had Mana on her speed dial and for some reason made even Tohsaka 'The Broken Magistra' Sakura nervous would be enough to deal with nearly any problem.

Tohsaka S wouldn't talk about it, just said muttered "You'll see," and something about Predators and Shinmei Ryu.

Sakura had made it one of her duties to meet the others or at least talk to them every few days, and basically get everyone to be friendlier with each other. This had already led to Hotaru, (Tohsaka) Sakura, Konoka and Yuuno to reveal their identities to each other and form their own little sub-group, The Medics. Her current short-term goal was to fully integrate the Wolkenritter with everyone.

After all, there was no reason why they couldn't all be friends.

Her hanging out with the Senshi at their favorite arcade was a part of this. She'd finally tried out the ice-cream dish Vita had told her about and had to restrain herself to keep from ordering a second one. Tomoyo had taken one taste and excused herself. Only Syaoran had heard her reminding herself about her 'holy vows to Sakura'. Syaoran had eaten three. Keroberos had bitched royally about how they wouldn't let him have more than five.

"Kero-kun," Tomoyo explained. "While my credit card goes a long way, I don't think we'd be able to hide the fact none of us are eating."

"Besides, eating so much is bad for you, Kero-kun!" Sakura asserted.

"BLASPHEMY!" Keroberos and Usagi had declared. This had quickly led to bonding.

"Oh god, there's two of them," Syaoran and Rei had bemoaned. This had also led to bonding.

They'd taken a taxi to the place, since they didn't want to be obvious about arriving in a big honkin' limo with lots of private security. Now they stepped out of another taxi and onto the sidewalk, only a couple of blocks from the hotel Tomoyo had arranged for them to stay at. They'd told Sakura's family Tomoyo needed to stay in Tokyo for a few days and had invited her friend along. This was not a lie. They'd just neglected to mention what they were doing. And that Syaoran would be tagging along.

"Hoeee," Sakura sighed contentedly as they walked past the stalled traffic on the road.

Tomoyo's fingers twitched for a camcorder. _No_, she reminded herself. _I am not a slave to my impulses. Control… _control…_ I am more than the sum of my carnal desires. I am capable of saying 'no' to my hormones. I…_

A sudden gust of wind caused Sakura's skirt to flap upward as she and Tomoyo tried to bring them down for modesty.

… _I WISH SAKURA-CHAN DIDN'T HAVE SUCH GOOD REFLEXES! Was that a flash of white? Or was it pink? Did it have a cute bow on it?_

Abruptly, Sakura and Syaoran stopped walking, and Tomoyo found herself three steps ahead of them before she realized she was alone. She blinked turning to them. "Sakura-chan? Lee-kun? What is it?"

In the purse she carried, Keroberos shifted, poking his head out slightly. "There's evil in the air…" the Sun Guardian said, face uncharacteristically serious.

Syaoran had moved partly in front of Sakura, as if seeking to guard her, and Tomoyo felt a flash of approval mixed with jealousy. She sternly pushed down the latter, and tried to ignore the memory of her strange vision from weeks ago. Instead, she concentrated, trying to bring what little chi-senses she had to bear. It had been a source of frustration for her that as easily as she threw out her life-force to power her Shinmei-ryu techniques, trying to sense anything was still very difficult for her. Tsukuyomi-sensei had explained it in one of her helpful moments: it was easier to shout than to listen.

Still, even Tomoyo could hear when someone was shouting. A strange sense that felt vaguely like Tsukuyomi sensei, only much, much weaker and smaller, came to her.

"Evil?" she said obliviously for Sakura's benefit. "What do you mean, Kero-kun?"

Syaoran gave her a _look_. "There's something out there. I think I've felt this before, or at least something like it. It feels similar to the Book of the Night Sky's defense program…"

Kero began to growl. "And it's coming closer."

At the edge of hearing, Tomoyo caught soft words.

_Join us…_

_Come to our world…_

"Will we have to fight?" Sakura said quietly. There was barely a tremble in her voice, though that was mainly because it overflowed with concern.

Syaoran nodded grimly. The bead that would become his sword was in his hand, and the other was reaching into his jacket for ofuda. Tomoyo shrugged, feeling the long knife down her back, recalling how to retrieve her swords and blasters from the magical storage sigils the way Tatsumiya-sensei had taught her recently. He could feel Syaoran eyeing her, plainly wondering if she would fight or if this would be up to him, and ignored him.

"Then we shouldn't be out here," Sakura said. "People might get hurt."

"And they might see things," Syaoran pointed out.

Sakura blushed. "Yes. That too."

"Maybe if we run, they'll leave us alone?" Tomoyo suggested.

"Then they might go after people," Syaoran said.

_This is Tokyo,_ Tomoyo wanted to point out. _People get attacked every night! What does it matter if it's by a rapist or mugger or evil monster as long as IT ISN'T SAKURA-CHAN?-!-?-!-?-!_

Instead, she said, "I think I saw a park a block or two back…"

...

They tried not to run, since it would draw attention. Three children running in the city at night, no matter how well dressed– of perhaps especially if they were well dressed– where just asking for trouble. Still, they probably set some kind of casual stroll land-speed record.

And they _were_ followed. It was hard to make out for Tomoyo, since she couldn't very well stop walking to concentrate her senses, but even through what little she picked up that was mainly the random bustle of people, she could feel them. The strange, somehow goopy, diluted, thin, weak washed-out sense that was strangely similar to Tsukuyomi-sensei.

They'd tried to call the Senshi, anyone, on their cell phones, but all that came out was weird crackling, and then voices. "_Join us… come to our world…_"

Sakura had been alarmed. Tomoyo had vowed destruction on whoever was responsible for frightening Sakura-chan so.

The park had been lit with lampposts when they'd stumbled into it, only then breaking into a run, but it hadn't been long before the lamps had flickered and died abruptly. Tomoyo felt a prickling on her arms that had nothing to do with some kind of battle sense and everything to do with her sense of touch. The air was carrying a heavy ionic charge, causing her hairs to stand on end.

Off to one side– _not_ the way the had come– there was a surprised scream, quickly cut off.

"Oh no!" Sakura cried. "There are people here!"

_Well of course, it's one of the biggest, most populated cities in the world,_ were the words Tomoyo firmly quashed.

"Sakura-chan, Lee-kun, perhaps you should get ready," Tomoyo suggested taking a fey steps to the side and rummaging through her purse as Keroberos changed forms. She pulled out three masks, and put one on, handing them the other two. "I'll be off to the side."

"Eh, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed in concern.

Tomoyo waved a hand negligently. "I'll be fine," she said. "Sakura-chan will protect me… WHILE I RECORD EVERY BEAUTIFUL MOMENT!"

She held up the small camcorder.

Sakura slumped in defeat. "Hoeee…!"

_Join us… _

_Come to our world…_

Sakura straightened, reaching for her key, calling the words that would change it into her wand as Syaoran gripped his sword and Ofuda. With Sakura's back turned, Tomoyo drew out the knife at her back. It was small, but more than enough to use for Shinmeiryu Ken. She held it lying across one inner forearm, hidden from casual view but ready.

A woman suddenly ran out of the brush, wearing the clothes of an office worker, holding tightly to her purse, her coat hanging open as she ran in primal fear. She saw them, her mouth opening wide as if to say something, but before she could get any words out, thick black cable shot out from behind her, wrapping themselves around her windpipe. The cables shoved themselves down the woman's throat as she struggled futilely to fight back. Blood began to trickle from the corner of her mouth.

Sakura screamed. And until the day she died, Daidouji Tomoyo would always know that was the sound of the death of Sakura's innocence. That no matter what, from that day forward, one of the things she loved most about Sakura had been irrevocably destroyed.

From the woman's mouth, a dark form ripped its way out.

Green light suddenly tinted the area, revealing several inhuman forms behind her.

"Get down!" a familiar voice suddenly cried.

The tone had Tomoyo moving, and she was on the ground, knife clutched in a backhanded grip as Syaoran pulled Sakura down after him, covering her with his body. Kero quickly threw himself over them, wings wrapping around them.

"_Raskel Master Magister! Locos Umbrae Regnans Scáthach! In Manum Meum Dedo Iaculum Daemonium Cum Spinis Triginta! Jaculatio Fulgoris_!"

"Rain of Chainsaws!"

Spears of lightning came crashing down, skewering many of the dark forms. Some dissolved in bursts of light, other dodged, only to be met with glowing green chainsaws that sought them out and dismembered them. Thick, tar-like ichor flew even as they dissolved. Small glowing crystals lay on the ground where they died.

Out of the air, several cellphones fell, somehow improbably sticking into the ground. They rang.

Sudden circles of light appeared before them, and fire suddenly filled the night.

Now, the dark things screamed.

_Suffer,_ Tomoyo thought. _Suffer for destroying Sakura-chan's innocence!_

A figure covered in green light descended towards them. Yuuno Scrya. " Keroberos! Star Wing!" he said, using Sakura's call sign. Tomoyo had chosen it, since Sakura hadn't known what to call herself, though she hadn't been satisfied that it fit Sakura properly. "Wolf! Are you all right?"

"We're fine!" Syaoran said, getting back to his feet and helping Sakura up as Ferret Lantern created a barrier around them. It was a different shade of green from the chainsaws he'd launched. Magic, then. "How's To- Purple?"

"I'm fine, Wolf-kun," she said, getting back to her feet and making a show of seeing if her camera was all right, though she doubted Sakura was paying her any attention.

"How did you find us?" Syaoran asked. "Did one of our calls get through?"

Yuuno shook his head. "No. Just lucky. I was helping Negi hunt Invaders tonight while Na- _Green Lantern-chan_ gave testimony on behalf of the Wolkenritter."

"That was today?" Syaoran said. "Huh."

The fire was dying. There was none of the things left, though Negi had disappeared to make sure the area was clear.

"T-that woman…" Sakura said shakily. "Will she be all right?"

Even behind his mask, Tomoyo saw Yuuno's face contort into what might have been sadness, or even despair. "N-no. I'm sorry."

"Why not?" Sakura cried. "Sailor Moon does it all the time! Her enemies turns someone into a monster, and she turns that monster into a person! Is it because Sailor Moon's not here? We can call her! We have her number!"

"Sa- Star Wing," Yuuno tried to say soothingly. Sakura seemed almost hysterical. "It won't work. She's tried. Once the Invaders take you… you're gone."

"No!" Sakura said, wide-eyed. Her hand clutched her wand tightly. "No, there _has_ to be a way! There always is!"

"Sakura…" Yuuno said quietly, trying to get her attention with her real name.

Sakura rounded on him. "_THERE HAS TO BE A WAY!_"

_There is a way…_

They all jerked at the voice. Yuuno suddenly looked sick, muttering, "Oh no, not voices! Not tonight!"

"Warning," a voice that sounded kind of like Neil Patrick Harris said from Yuuno's finger. "Ring power at 200 percent."

_There is a way…_

Light suddenly shone, shining from Sakura's chest, from the blue stone she wore there, in its mount of golden wire, a brilliant, dazzling blue light, like the sun at noon through water.

_There is hope…_

Light exploded, fountaining outward from Sakura's chest in a dazzling burst. It arced upward like a geyser in slow, elegant motion, exploding in a shape like a flower. Soft, wispy tendril swept outward.

_What do you hope for?_

Tomoyo's knees buckled as, in her mind's eye, there once more came the vision of Sakura's smile. "_Tomoyo-chan…Tomoyo-chan… of _course_ I love you too…"_

The boys and Kero, much closer to Sakura, gasped, eyes sightless, staring at things only they could see. Out of the corner of her eye, from the direction the boys had come from, Tomoyo saw a dark figure fall to its knees.

_What do you hope for?_

"Sakura…" Tomoyo found herself answering in a near-soundless whisper. "I hope.. for Sakura…"

The blue light touched the charred field where the dark forms had been laid to waste. Beneath it, grass, then flowers, began to grow. The blue light touched a glowing green gem on the ground.

The gem seemed to exploded, twisting itself outward in a vaguely star-like shape. In seconds, a woman lay on the ground, fast asleep. The light touched the next gem, and it burst as well, revealing a middle-aged man.

_Hope finds a way…_

The blue light exploded in one more brilliant surge, than faded slowly away, like the sparkles left by a firework, leaving only dozens of sleeping forms in various clothes.

"S-sakura?" Syaoran gasped, blinking, though it didn't seem to be so much to clear his eyes as to reset his brain. "What happened? What did you _do?_"

"I-I don't know…" Sakura said, sounding breathless. She stared at the blue stone held cupped in her hand, still emitting a faint, blue glow.

A glow Tomoyo could _feel_. It wasn't a shout, though it was pervasive. It felt of light, of sweetness, of possibility, of infinite beauty and wonder, of glorious, _glorious _rapture! It felt…

It felt like Sakura…

"That's impossible…!" a soft, almost monotonous voice said from the side, and the figure of a girl, in a school uniform and red coat appeared, a laptop in hand. "How did you _do_ that? Only the Black Gate of Creation has ever restored anyone and… _HOW?-!_" Wide, disbelieving eyes stared from wide round lenses.

"I… I don't know…" Sakura said, sounding confused and afraid.

From out of the sky, Negi, masked as Maguis Erebeus, dropped into their midst, causing everyone to jump.

"Does anyone want to explain what just happened?" Negi said, sounding remarkably calm. "And why I just had a vision of the future?"

Everyone turned to Sakura.

Her head shook. "I don't know…"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Six hundred billion explosive tags. Konan must have had the mother of all hand cramps making those… Quite sad Madara seemed to have pulled _yet another_ technique out of his ass. Still, at least it's technically not a new one.

I don't exactly remember if Invaders could mess with cell phones, but since they seem to react to electromagnetic waves in the original Gatekeepers, I took a liberty.

And thus Ayane makes her debut!

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


End file.
